Lingerie strap holder



Jan. 18, 1938. l A CL R 2,106,072

LINGERIE STRAP HOLDER Filg Sept. 11, 1957 Patented Jan. 18, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,106,072 I LINGERIE STRAP HOLDER Julia A. st; Clair, San Francisco, Calif.

Application September 11, 1937, Serial No. 163,474

1 Claim. ',(Cl. 24 7 I This invention relates to holders for lingerie which" support lingerie or other under-garments from the shoulders of the wearer.

It is well known that the shoulder straps for supporting garments in proper position from the shoulders of the wearer, have, unless some means is provided to prevent it, a tendency to slip over the shoulders or become misplaced, whereby the garment is unsupported and falls, to the great discomfort of the wearer. In order to obviate this condition other devices have been devised, but so far as known all of such devices have had some difiiculty, either because of their insecure attachment to the under-garment, or by reason of some defect in the portion of the device which supports the lingerie strap.

It is an important object of the present invention to obviate all of the difliculties heretofore found to exist, and to overcome the inconveniences known to be present in devices of the character referred to, and to the accomplishment of these results the present invention consists of the device as hereinafter more fully described, the novel features thereof being pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawing:-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a lingerie holding or supporting device embodying the present invention, and

Figure 2 shows the same device in side elevation.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral l illustrates one of the bars of a safety pin wherein the wire thereof is at one end of the device formed into a coil 3 having a terminal member 5 provided at its end with a point i. At the opposite end of the bar I from which the coil 3 is formed, a protecting sheath or guard 9 is provided, made of suitable metal and provided at its lower portion with a return bend H which is adapted to receive the point I of the pin when said pin has been inserted in the garment, and it is desired to protect the point and sheath it so as to prevent injury to the garment or person by accidental contact with said point.

The bar I of the device, after leaving the coil 3, passes through the upper bent over metal portion l2 of the sheath 9, and continues thence, be- 4 ing formed beyond the sheath in a return bend l5 which is thence directed as a bar I! in substantial parallelism with the bar I, and finally at the end is turned over or doubled in the form of a loop I9, the final terminal end portion 20 of the upper bar I! being caused to engage or abut the body of'said bar, as shown in the drawing. By the construction described it will be seen that the final bar ll of the wire or stock metal is bent first to form an enclosing loop portion 2| to receive the strapof the lingerie, while its terminal portion is reverselybent back upon itself to form a second loop l9, which latter contacts with the bar 1 at the point 23, or with the loop 3 at such a point so as to form a closure of the space between the bars I and H, such enclosed space effectively serving to receive and house and retain in position the lingerie shoulder strap, so that the same is not permitted to escape while having sufiicient lateral play to conform to all of the necessary movements brought about by changes in the position of the body of the wearer, etc.

A very valuable feature of the invention resides in the return loop portion l9. This loop not only serves by engagement with the bar I or coil 3 at the left hand end of the device as viewed in Fig. 1, to securely enclose a space 2| for retaining the lingerie strap, but also forms a smooth terminal portion for the bar H. The loop 19 serves thus to efiectually confine the strap and at the same time does not present an unfinished or projecting end to the bar for engagement with those portions of the garment which overlie the device, or possible injury to the hand of the wearer in adjusting the strap within or removing it from the space 2| of the loop, which would be the case were a safety pin point present where the loop I9 is located.

It is to be observed that in this device what may be regarded as the safety pin element, including the lower bar with pin point 1, shield or guard 9, and loop 3, is utilized for the purpose of securing the lingerie holder as an entirety to the hem or other suitable portion of the under-garment, while the upper portion of the device, comprising the loop 2i, and the return bend I9, is utilized entirely in the performance of the function of retaining the lingerie strap in position. In the performance of this last-named function, it will be seen that the lingerie strap may, by a simple lateral movement against the extreme end portion of the loop l9, be passed within the space 2!, the bar I! flexing slightly to permit a suflicient opening of the space between the coil 3 and loop I9 to permit the strap to enter. It will be further seen that by a reverse movement of the lingerie strap in removing the same from the device, the strap need be simply pressed against the inside portion of the loop I9, thereby causing a separation of the loop from III the coil 3 again, while the strap is being removed, the parts instantly snapping back into their normal position after such removal. No points, unguarded ends, or portions of the device which might cause injury to the fingers or garments are embodied in that portion of the holder which is used to retain the lingerie strap in position, and prevent its accidental removal, as the resiliency of the wire of which the device is made is suflicient to maintain contact between the loop I9 and coil 3 during all normal movements, of the wearer which would have any tendency'to cause the strap to be accidentally disengaged from the holder. At the same time, very slight pressure against the strap would be sufficient to cause it to move, either into or out of the spacejl by displacement of the loop I9 from the coil'3', by the user.

It will also be seen that the device comprises but a single, continuous piece of wire, or metal stock, which is formed into both the pin; portions 5, 1, the loop 3, and the bar I, which latteris continued to form the bar l1 and loop IS. The entire device, accordingly, consists of only two pieces, namely, the wire which is bent to form the parts above described, and the sheath or [a coil at a suitable distance from the point and extending thence in substantial parallelism with the bar member to provide a second bar member, .then reversed upon itself in a single U-bend to provide a third barmember spaced and terminating in a closedloop which is resiliently held in contact, with said coil, in combination with a sheet metal guard permanently and rigidly attached to the second barv member by having portions doubled over to enclose the wire of said'member in proximity to, said bend and provided with a receiving-portion for the pin point when the pin is,

closed.

7 A. ST. CLAIR. 

